FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT DUBLIN - PAGE 4

MUMBAI: MasterCard is expanding its development headcount in India to work on processing platforms and its mobile payments offerings, a play that could make the country the second-largest tech hub in the world for the payment processor over the next few years. The payment network bought Sam Pitroda's C-Sam in February and Electra-Card Services in May. C-Sam, which has its Indian operations in Baroda, will build mobility solutions such as Master-Pass and help MasterCard sharpen services with Apple's digital wallet.

HYDERABAD: Social networking site Facebook is all set to launch its India operations from Hyderabad in less than two months. The company's proposal to set up a unit in Raheja Mindspace SEZ here was approved by the Union Government yesterday, said a senior official of the state Information Technology Department on Sunday. "The company is aggressively hiring people. Initially, they will be operating from an incubation centre in the SEZ," the official said.

NEW DELHI: Punjab-based Thapar University today signed an agreement with Trinity College Dublin as part of its efforts to impart global standard education at its campus here. The partnership between the two institutes will promote academic collaboration in key areas of undergraduate and post graduate programmes, research and student and staff mobility, a joint statement by the universities said. "I will not call it an agreement but a collaboration to promote the educational system of the country with the help of a global leader," Chairman of Thapar University's Board of Governors, R R Vederah told.

In his first stint at BhartiAirtel , between 2006 and 2008, GopalVittal made himself popular â€" and unpopular â€" by redefining the relationship between operations and marketing in India's largest telecom company. "Prior to that, each business head designed his offerings and then went to the marketing team, which worked with ad agencies," says a top Bharti executive who worked closely with Vittal , not wanting to be identified. As head of marketing, Vittal turned that communication flow into a two-way street: he started suggesting changes in the consumer offerings and the business plan.

DUBLIN: Swedish cosmetics major Oriflame is planning several initiatives for the Indian market, including development of new products and entering new verticals, as it aims to grow by 25 per cent year-on-year for the next five years in the country. The company, which is present in India through a wholly owned subsidiary--Oriflame India, currently markets around 600 products in India across five segments including skin care and hair care. "In India, penetration level of direct selling segment is still very low, so there is an immense opportunity for growth...

NEW DELHI: Ireland is making a serious pitch to attract Indian students, in an aim to double their numbers in the next few years. In this connection, Ciaran Cannon, Ireland's minister for education and Skills, was in India with one of the biggest education trade delegations from Ireland, which included representatives from 16 Irish universities and institutes. The Irish delegation, a mix of representatives from universities and institutes like Dublin City University, National University of Ireland, Galway,Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, considers India, Brazil and China to be the key markets.

Grafton Street, at the heart of Dublin City, is still "gay with housed awnings," as Ireland's most celebrated writer once described it. One imagines James Joyce would feel at home in this brick-paved pedestrian street that curves between Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green. He could still window-shop at Brown Thomas or step around the corner for a drink at Davy Byrne's "Moral Pub". James Joyce is one of Ireland's leading industries. Like many of the nation's great writers - Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett - he left the country of his birth, but carried it forever with him in his heart.

MUMBAI: Facebook, the world's largest social networking site, is doing something that no domestic or multinational company has done before - hire software engineers from India for positions based in the United States. Typically, global firms such as IBM and GE hire in India for positions here and send some of these recruits abroad for specific projects. However, Facebook's open invitation in a newspaper advertisement last week seeking applicants "to work in the US" is being regarded as a first.

LONDON: Low-cost airline Ryanair Plc said Monday it will cut most of its routes out of north England's Manchester Airport with the loss of up to 600 jobs. The Dublin-based carrier said some of the routes will be switched to other airports in northern England. It said it had decided to move away from Manchester Airport after a dispute over charges. Manchester Airport said in a statement that it believed its charges were reasonable.